Exciting news from abroad
MONDAY, APRIL 5, 2004 10:11 PM
Filesharing Is Okay North of the 49th Parallel Only
I'm not saying I like the recording industry in general, but this Canadian decision as reported on FindLaw (originally Christian Science Monitor), which basically says P2P networks are okay, is pretty loopy-sounding. I’m not a big fan of the RIAA and its international counterpart’s m.o. against filesharers and quite frankly their current business model (pushing sucky music, albums with one “good song” plus filler), but I don’t know how much better this works if Canada’s an island on this issue. The really interesting part of the story is:

"I cannot see a real difference between a library that places a photocopy machine in a room full of copyrighted material and a computer user who places a personal copy on a shared directory linked to a P2P service," he said.

His ruling backs a decision by the Copyright Board of Canada last December that stated that downloading a song for personal use isn't copyright infringement. The CRIA plans to appeal.

First, it's not very useful to have such inconsistencies. I mean, we deal with this all the time, but with other countries going the other way, it creates uncertainty. Kind of like much of the 1800s when British authors were ticked off because America didn’t really respect foreign copyrights and sold books for practically nothing. Which was great for American consumers, but not so good for foreign authors (or publishers). The U.S. finally came around and adopted and international copyright law, but the inconsistency wasn’t terribly helpful. "COPYRIGHT C.P.U. Creators, Proprietors & Users" provides a good description of the history of copyright (from a critical point of view).

The library analogy at first glance is rather sketchy. it’s not going to make and there are clear differences between a library and downloading. A library assumes you're only using it for personal use, implicitly recognizes the photocopies can't last as long as an actual book, the place has a sign up saying you can only copy for personal use and have to be wary of copyright laws, and you'll either only keep it in your brain or copy a small amount whereas with downloaded music, there's not a copyright warning with the download or suggestion it should be for personal & private use, you get the whole thing, and you can potentially keep it forever. It was pointed out to me that you could check out music CDs from the library and rip them at home or, heck, take a laptop to the library and rip them there, and I don’t know what to do with that in light of this judge’s ruling.

I like that the EFF’s got a quote in there about how the recording industry might want to start admitting competition from other sources, not mostly downloading that’s hurt their bottom line.

Four Months to Go
I want to be optimistic about the Athens Olympic Games and I was getting there. I mean, heck I was surprised they didn’t get the games in 1996—it was the centennial and we got Atlanta and the joys of corporate sponsorship. But now that it’s kind of hobbling along and they’re racing the clock, it’s kind of scary. It’ll all work out, but I’m just gonna be skeptical for now. The Chronicle’s Scott Ostler’s got some good points in his (unevenly funny) article:

I am looking at a map of venues, with symbols showing which are completed. Of the 12 on the map, eight venues still are under construction.

I’m cringing. See, this is worrisome.

The sailing center is finished. That's right, the Greeks have brought the water up to an acceptable degree of Olympic wetness.

My favorite line.

Construction has lagged behind schedule because of strikes, work stoppages and the fact that Athens wasn't chosen for a makeover on "Queer Eye for the Olympic Host City."

Nothing like timely, topical humor.

I’ll just ignore this and turn on my TV on August 13 and it’ll all be there.

I like the law and I like quizzes
SUNDAY, APRIL 4, 2004 9:07 PM
So I stumbled upon this quiz, Which Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Are You?, at Quizilla, and though it's not super-well written, it's still kind of interesting.

My result:

YOU ARE RULE 11! You were designed to make sure that attorneys in federal cases make reasonable inquiries into fact and law before submitting pleadings, motions, or other papers. You were a real hardass in 1983, when you snuffed out all legal creativity from federal proceedings and embarassed well-meaning but overzealous attorneys. You loosened up a bit in 1993, when you began allowing plaintiffs to make allegations in their complaints that are likely to have evidenciary support after discovery, and when you allowed a 21 day period for the erring attorney to withdraw the errant motion. Sure, you keep everything running on the up and up, but it's clear that things would be a lot more fun without you around.

This isn't going to make people like baseball more
I know it's exhibition time and the first game's tomorrow, but a tie in baseball's still pretty stupid. I mean, it's not as damaging as steriods, but I'd have been pretty annoyed if I was at the A's-Giants game tonight.

I Hate Daylight Saving Time So Hard
SUNDAY, APRIL 4, 2004 7:13 PM
I'm just saying. I'm tired.

Do you think liberal radio is going to be about hateful extremism too?
I don't really think so, but that'd look pretty interesting. I'm excited to hear it, but I fear I'll be disappointed. I'm already disappointed we have to wait an extra couple weeks here in the Bay Area, a pretty liberal place, if I'm not mistaken.

Well, It's Not My Favorite Quarter
So they unveiled the California quarter and my initial, visceral reaction is "that's a not much of a hill to scale there, John Muir, and why is that bird (eagle? condor?) flying at your face?" Okay, it's really sort of veering away from him, but still. I guess the Golden Gate Bridge would have been too cliché and predictable so that's why we went with John Muir and Yosemite Valley. And the Gold Rush has been passé since the sequicentennial. I like how the governor gets the final say—so much power. I'm surprised and impressed at how pro-nature that quarter is. Gold is the past! Green is the future?

comments? e-mail me.